The council says it will now be drawing up a detailed grant application after securing initial support from HLF officials.

Cabinet portfolio holder Councillor Martin Mancey said: "We are delighted the Heritage Lottery Fund recognises the importance of the Beverley Road area, a major gateway into the city.

"We will now move forward with a detailed proposal that we hope will prove successful.

"We will be inviting businesses, residents, local schools and partners to support us in developing a proposal that preserves the look and needs of the local area.

"This area has been overlooked for a number of years and we hope this proposal will have a positive impact on the city.

"This announcement demonstrates the fund's confidence in Hull as a city and its recent UK City of Culture success and will make a significant difference to the local area and our city of culture offer."

Earlier this week, the Mail highlighted the poor condition of one empty, privately owned building in Beverley Road, where the council has spent £200,000 on scaffolding to prevent it from collapsing.

The authority says it intends to recover its costs from the owner once the necessary work is carried out to make the property secure.

The bid for Heritage Lottery Fund support comes after a damning report on the condition of the Beverley Road Conservation Area by English Heritage. The national conservation body said the poor condition of many buildings and landmarks between Clough Road and the city centre meant its official Conservation Area designation was at risk.

The council has until February next year to develop a detailed application that will include a range of proposals to restore, invest and bring back its heritage.

If successful, work will start in late 2015 and will be completed by 2019.

Development funding of £69,900 has also been awarded to help the council to progress plans to apply for a full grant.

The project aims to carry out essential conservation work, which includes frontage and boundary improvements to a number of properties and areas of vacant council land.

It will also offer property owners the chance to apply for grants to carry out improvements to their buildings to restore and repair some of the original features.

Vacant privately owned land will also be targeted.

Fiona Spiers, head of the HLF in Yorkshire and the Humber, said: "Beverley Road is best known as the gateway leading into the city of Hull. "As such, it's key that it is restored to its original splendour in time for 2017, when Hull becomes UK City of Culture.

"We are confident our funding will help the council to achieve this aim and we will be working closely with it as plans progress over the coming year.

"City centres can, and should, be at the heart of community life and we believe restored, high-quality shop fronts and historic features make a real difference to everyone's overall quality of life."

Next stage will determine size of award

Securing initial grant funding support in the Heritage Lottery Fund's Townscape Heritage Initiative scheme means that money has now been set aside for Hull.

The city council's next task in the second round stage is to complete a detailed submission to clinch the full award.

A Heritage Lottery Fund spokesman said: "This early level of financial commitment means that applicants can build strong partnerships with the assurance that funding for their scheme is in place, provided final proposals fully meet the programme criteria.

"It also encourages partnerships of local organisations to carry out repairs and other works to a number of historic buildings, structures or spaces."

18 comments

Places
, which part of the city will you be standing as a councillor so you can practice what you preach and for which party will you represent and can you lay out your ideas and more importantly who will pay to get all these privately owned properties into public ownership so they can be demolished as you seem to be calling for.

Mograt. So which of the private owners do you critisise for not giving away their property so your ideas could be brought to fruition. While thinking of that, can you estimate how much your ideas would cost and who should pay for it, you via the rates the government or the owners who don't give a dam what happens as long as they turn a profit.

So many golden opportunities have been missed by our inadequate councillors. Firstly the route into Hull is now blighted by monstrous tin sheds blocking what could have been a fantastic view over the river. Who allowed that abomination?? Lord Line building left to rot, could've made a nice hotel out of it and made some good use of the surrounding land. The dock could have been dredged out and boats like the Spurn lightship moored up there. A bustling quayside area could have been created on the former dockside with the existing buildings being brought back into use, but it's all been squandered. So many could have been's eh?...

One of the main gateways to the city is Hull Paragon Interchange. Tens of millions have been spent on this and the surrounding area to give people the feel of a modern city moving forward. Thousands of visitors are expected to arrive by train and coach here in the coming years. The first sights to greet them as they leave the station today however are two massive "Poundland" signs which occupy the entire height of the building on the opposite side of Ferensway. As a first impression, this is not good for Hull as it approaches 2017 (unless of course the impression our civic leaders wish to convey is of a city on its uppers, dominated by thrift shops). Is it naive to hope that a full audit is being conducted of all of the so-called 'gateways' to the city to ensure that the first impression that visitors have of us is positive? Getting the basics right must come first, otherwise much of the good work done further down the line will be wasted.

Colin Ingis who do you think you are calling people "a miserable bunch" we have got our opinion and you have just let everyone know what is wrong with this city when blinkered councilors like you, Brady ,Geraghty,etc., just blab out verbal crxp! oops sorry i forgot your the one who wasted thousands of pounds on that stupid giant city centre screen without having a meeting or discussing it with others of your gang, Beverley road should be widened by flattenIng every bombed out building from Clough road onwards to Spring bank. p.s. roll on may elections! bit of luck you lot will be gone and maybe just maybe this city will get the proper people in to run it,

I wonder if anybody from the council ever reads our comments,if they do its obvious it just goes in one ear and out the other,but from me HCC you should be ashamed of yourselves to let so many parts of this city to get so run down for gods sake pull your fingers out and get something done.And as for driving into Hull from east or west or train you could be driving into a third world country with all the litter and plastic bags hanging in the trees and bushes.

About 6 years ago I got a letter from my Housing Office which said "cut your front garden grass or we'll do it and charge you for it".
My grass was about 3 inches high and the reason it had n't been cut was because we'd had a lot of rain and the ground was sodden. Being a keen gardener I was very offended as well.
If the powers that be can come down on me like a ton of bricks for such a trivial matter why can't they do something about large buildings,(whose owners must be millionaires) that have been in a state of disrepair for decades.
Last year ,whilst working for the Council off Holderness Road, I noticed all the debris piled up high in the grounds of the Cornmill Hotel. People who live just across the road have to look at this on a daily basis.

Long overdue. These are privately owned buildings and more should be done to make the absent landlords keep them in decent repair. Other eyesores are the shops from the old Stepney railway station up to the Tesco express. They area disgrace and have been for many years. Surely the landlords have some responsibility to maintain them in character to the area?
Other eyesores.
The Queens Road/Sculcoates Lane junction. Surely a bit of landscaping isn't out of the question? The railings are still there from the old drain and cars are parked up on the grass verges.
Next the private multi occupant flats just along from Queens Road and the selection of wheelie bins in full view 24/7. Cannot they be screened off ?
All that is really required is a bit of care and attention.
And a dose of civic pride.